Shopping in Ancient Rome

The Retail Trade in the Late Republic and the Principate

Claire Holleran

Provides a comprehensive analysis of the retail trade of Rome in the late Republic and the Principate, and offers new insights into a little-studied area of the urban economy

Considers the retail trade within the wider context of the urban economy and social structure of Rome

Includes three maps and 23 in-text illustrations

Shopping in Ancient Rome

The Retail Trade in the Late Republic and the Principate

Claire Holleran

Description

Shopping in Ancient Rome provides the first comprehensive account of the retail network of this ancient city, an area of commerce that has been largely neglected in previous studies. Given the remarkable concentration of consumers in ancient Rome, the vast majority of which were entirely reliant on the market for survival, a functioning retail trade was vital to the survival of Rome in the late Republic and the Principate.

In this volume Holleran provides the first systematic account of Rome's retail sector through a comprehensive analysis of the literary, legal, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence together with wide-ranging and innovative comparative studies of the distributive trades. Investigating the diverse means by which goods were sold to
consumers in the city, and the critical relationship between retail and broader environmental factors, Holleran places Roman retail trade firmly within the wider context of its urban economy. In considering the roles played by shops, workshops, markets, fairs, auctions, street sellers, and ambulant vendors in the distribution of goods to the inhabitants of the city, the volume sheds new light on the experience of living in the ancient city and explores the retail trade of Rome in its totality.

Shopping in Ancient Rome

The Retail Trade in the Late Republic and the Principate

Claire Holleran

Table of Contents

List of FiguresAbbreviationsIntroduction1. The Retail Trade and the Economy2. Retailers and the Wholesale Trade3. The Form and Function of Tabernae4. Markets and Fairs5. Street Traders, Hawkers, and Pedlars6. Elite ConsumptionConclusionBibliography

Shopping in Ancient Rome

The Retail Trade in the Late Republic and the Principate

Claire Holleran

Author Information

Claire Holleran currently holds a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Liverpool. She is the co-editor of Demography and the Graeco-Roman World: New Insights and Approaches with April Pudsey, and A Companion to the City of Rome with Amanda Claridge, and is the author of several articles on the social and economic history of Rome.

Shopping in Ancient Rome

The Retail Trade in the Late Republic and the Principate

Claire Holleran

Reviews and Awards

"This is a highly relevant book that breaks important new ground in an area of Roman studies that has suffered from neglect both traditionally and in recent years."--Flohr, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Although aspects of Holleran's book have been the subject of previous studies (notably shops, bars and markets), this is the first attempt to offer a systematic treatment of the selling of goods and its role in the Roman economy. It is testimony to the value of Holleran's research that it inspires debate and will prompt future scholarship to look beyond commodities and focus instead on the mechanisms of the ancient economy. It is a work to be applauded for its innovation, scholarship and depth and will long remain required reading on the urban economies of the ancient world."--Benedict Lowe, Classical Journal